University of Hawai’i Press (2017)
The Charm Buyers describes extraordinary beauty and turbulent change: Tahiti during the last years of nuclear testing in the Pacific.
“The Charm Buyers isn’t just a book, it’s a world―full of the complexity and beauty of life, masterfully created. Reading this felt like diving into a reality both eerily familiar and yet artistically brand new. Lillian Howan’s talent is rare, refreshing, and casts a spell from page one.” —Mat Johnson, author of Loving Day and Pym
“The Charm Buyers is a thought-provoking insight into a time of cultural change. It captures an essence of existing between reality and surreality, dreaming and wakefulness, the past and the future.” —Foreword Reviews
https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/the-charm-buyers/
orchid blooming beneath bai yu lan tree
Islands in the Bay
from the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge, a view of Alcatraz Island ( the tiny island in the middle) and Angel Island on the right. Mount Tamalpias, the Sleeping Maiden, is in the background and, obscured by fog, is the Golden Gate Bridge on the left.
Author of The Charm Buyers, University of Hawai'i Press, recipient of the Ka Palapala Po'okela Award for Excellence; The Spellbound, forthcoming 2026
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